Submersible crematory urn

ABSTRACT

A submersible urn, preferably spherical in shape for containing cremated remains for burial at sea is disclosed. The urn is constructed with an air vent at the top, ballast at the bottom, and a water inlet port whereby water may enter the urn so that it will sink. The urn is constructed of a degradable material whereby chemical action of the water in which it is submerged will dissolve it over a period of time.

United States Patent 1191 Vigh [451 May 15, 1973 54] SUBMERSIBLECREMATORY URN 718,357 1/1903 Kade ..21s/2 3,581,452 6/1971 Jalbert..27/35 Inventor: Alexander Vigh, 555 Fairlawn Parkway, Saddle Brook,NJ. 07662 [22] Filed: May 28, 1971 [2]] Appl. No.: 147,800

[52] US. Cl 327/1 [51] Int. Cl. ..A6lg 17/08 [58] Field of Search..27/1, 2, 6, 7, 35, 27/5; 215/2, 79

[5 6] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,124,264 3/1964 Waisberg..2l5/2 X Primary Examiner-William E. Kamm Assistant ExaminerLee S.Cohen A Imrney-Jones & Lockwood [5 7] ABSTRACT A submersible urn,preferably spherical in shape for containing cremated remains for burialat sea is dis closed. The urn is constructed with an air vent at thetop, ballast at the bottom, and a water inlet port whereby water mayenter the urn so that it will sink. The urn is constructed of adegradable material whereby chemical action of the water in which it issubmerged will dissolve it over a period of time.

20 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures PATENTED m1 51975 m R/ WV MR M BMWATTORNEYS SUBMERSIBLE CREMATORY URN BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Thepresent'sinvention relates, in general, to urns for holding crematedremains, and more particularly toan and the inurned remains arememorialized by placing them in a columbarium, in a cemetery plot, or insome other repository structure, with an appropriate market todistinguish the location. However, as is becoming more and more evidentin densly populated areas, the land required for cemeteries,columbariums, and the like is becoming more and more valuable, withurban growth placing greater pressures on available land. Accordingly,the maintenance of appropriate memorials for an increasing populationproduces problems not only of land availability but of increasing costsand damage to the ecology that are not easily solved by present methods.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of thepresent invention to provide a means for interring, in a simple,inexpensive and dignified way, purified cremated remains.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a means for interringcremated remains whereby the natural elements will be recycled.

It is another object of the invention to provide a crematory urn forreceiving cremated remains, the urn being degradable so as to return theurn itself as well as the cremated remains to the natural elements in arelatively brief period of time, as compared to presently used burialdevices which are designed specifically to last for a long period oftime.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a submersibleurn designed to hold cremated remains for burial at sea, therebyeliminating the need for cemeteries, columbariums, and like repositorystructures.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a submersibleurn which is designed to receive cremated remains and, upon burial atsea, to sink to the ocean floor where the urn will dissolve and thenatural elements of the remains of the urn will be recycled.

The foregoing and additional objects are accomplished by the presentinvention through the provision of an urn which is designed to holdcremated remains while the remains are transmitted from the crematory toan ocean site designated for the dignified burial and consequent returnto the basic elements both of the remains and of the material of theurn. The urn is provided with a removable closure at the top by means ofwhich the remains may be placed within the container and the containersealed. A capped air vent is provided in the closure, the vent leadingby way of one or more air passages to the interior of the container. Thebottom of the container preferably is flat to provide stability, with aheavy weight being located at the bottom to insure that the containerwill sink when placed in the water. A water inlet port is providedthrough the bottom of the urn, the port having a removable cap andleading by way of one or more passages into the interior of thecontainer.

After a cremation has taken place, the remains are placed within thecontainer, and the closure positioned to *seal the device. The remainsmay then be transported to a suitable ocean burying site for appropriateburial. However, before the urn is lowered into the water, the capsclosing the inlet port and the air vent are removed so that when thedevice is placed in the water, air will be vented from the interior, itwill fill with water and sink to the ocean floor. The materials fromwhich the container are made will degrade by chemical action in the seawater while the remains will be biologically degraded whereby thenatural elements will be recycled and the urn and its remains will blendwith the surrounding environment. This device thus eliminates the needfor using the valuable living space on land that is now required forcolumbariums, cemeteries or other repository structures, eliminates theattendant requirement for perpetual care, and reduces the disturbance ofecological balance in nature by returning to the elements in arelatively short time that which will ultimately take that same path,but over a very long period of time. This method in no way deters theproper respect due the deceased, for true memorialization is in thememory of the survivors, whereas ordinary and previous methods ofinterment and storage of remains often served as harsh and unpleasantreminders of the past.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The foregoing and additional objects,features and advantages of the invention will become evident from aconsideration of the following detailed description of a preferredembodiment thereof together with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation view, in partial section of a submersible urnmade in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the device of the invention takenalong line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Turning now to a consideration ofthe drawings, there is indicated generally at 10 an urn constructed inaccordance with the present invention. As illustrated, the urn is in aspherical form, but it will be apparent that various otherconfigurations may be used, depending upon aesthetic preferences. Theurn comprises an outer shell or wall 12 which forms the body of thecontainer and provides it with the required form. The bottom 14 of thecontainer preferably is flat so as to stabilize the device when it isresting on a fiat surface. However, it will be apparent that in otherconfigurations it may be desired to place the urn on a suitably shapedpedestal or stand to provide it with the necessary stability, and thus aflat bottom surface is not essential.

Located within the container, and at the bottom thereof, is a ballast 16which is of sufficient weight to insure that the urn will maintain anupright attitude when placed on the surface of the water and will fillwith water and sink. The ballast may be secured in place by any suitablemeans, as by screws 18 passing through the shell 12 and into the ballastmaterial. Passing through the center of the ballast is an inlet port 20which leads from the exterior of the container to one or moretransverse, radially extending passageways 22 formed in the ballast. Thepassageways open into an annular chamber 24 which is formed between theballast l6 and a passage cover 26. As illustrated, the passage cover 26includes a downwardly extending portion 28 which forms the outer wall ofannular chamber 24, the inner wall being a part of the ballast l6 andthe space between the inner and outer walls of the chamber forming adownwardly facing opening 30. This opening 30 is covered by a screen 32to prevent material within the container from escaping into the inletport. The outer end of port 20 is closed by a removable cap 34 which maytake any suitable form, but preferably will have an integral pull tab,handle or the like to facilitate its removal. The cap is flush with thesurface of the urn in this embodiment so that the bottom remains flat.

At the top of the container is an opening 36 in the shell through whichcremated remains may be placed in the container. Since on the averagecremated remains will occupy approximately 175 cubic inches, it will beapparent that the diameter of urn will have to be sufficient to providethe required space, taking into account the losses occasioned by thestructure of the urn; a diameter of approximately 8 inches will beadequate. Similarly, the opening 36 must be sufficiently large toreceive the fragments which comprise the cremated remains.

A cover or closure 38 fits within the opening 36 and is held tightly inplace by suitable fasteners such as screws 40 extending through thecover and into a shoulder portion 42 of the shell, this shoulder portionserving to define the periphery of opening 36. It is noted that thelower surface of the cover 38 may be beveled as at 44 to facilitatelocation and seating of the cover within the opening 36.

Centrally located within the cover 38 is an air vent 46 which leads fromthe exterior of the vessel to one or more transverse passageways (seeFIG. 2). In the illustrated embodiment, six passageways 48-53 leadradially from vent 46 and open into an annular chamber 54 which islocated in cover 38 and which, in turn, opens into the interior of theurn, the arrangement of passages being similar in both the ballast andthe cover. The opening between chamber 54 and the interior of thecontainer is covered by means of a suitable screen 56 to preventmaterial within the container from passing into the vent 46. The outerend of the vent is closed by a suitable cap 58, with caps 34 and 58being held in their respective places by a friction fit, by threads, orby other suitable means. Preferably, cap 58 is also provided with anintegral pull tab or other handle means to facilitate manual removal ofthe cap from the vent.

It is preferred that the shell 12 of the urn be constructed of a softaluminum, a bio-degradable plastic, or other similar material that willrapidly dissolve by chemical or biological action upon submersion insalt water. The ballast 16 will preferably be ofa ferrous material thatwill also gradually deteriorate over a period of time. In like manner,the closure 38, the fasteners 18 and 40, and the screens 32 and 56 willbe constructed of a suitable material so as also to deteriorate andbecome a part of the natural elements.

In use, the urn of the present invention serves as a receptacle toconvey purified cremated remains from the crematory to a designatedoceanic site where final memorialization and burial would take place.Immediately prior to immersion of the device, the funeral director orother agent conducting the burial would remove caps 34 and 58 to thusopen port 20 and vent 46. When the urn is then placed on the surface ofthe water, the ballast will hold it in an upright attitude so that waterwill enter through port 20, passages 22, chamber 24, and through screen32 into the interior of the vessel. At the same time, air within the urnwill escape by way of annular chamber 54, passageways 48-53, and vent 46to thereby allow the interior to be flooded as the container sinks tothe ocean floor. In this manner, the respect of the living for thedeceased is paid through the realization that the final intermentclosely approaches the natural life processes, whereby the elements ofthe remains and of the burial vessel are returned to the environment togracefully blend with the elements of nature.

Thus, there has been described a new and novel submersible urn for usein conveying purified cremated remains from a crematory to a designatedoceanic site, where burial of the remains may take place. Although thepresent invention has been described with respect to a specificconfiguration thereof, it will be apparent to those skilled in the artthat numerous modifications may be made in the detailed constructionthereof without departing from the true spirit and scope of theinvention as defined in the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A submersible urn for underwater burial of cremated remains,comprising:

a container adapted to receive and hold said remains, said containerbeing of a degradable material and having a top portion and a bottomportion;

ballast means attached to the bottom portion of said container;

a water entry port in the bottom portion of said container;

removable closure means for said water entry port;

an opening in said container through which said remains are placed insaid container;

cover means for said opening;

air vent means at the top of said container; and

removable closure means for said air vent.

2. The submersible urn of claim 1, wherein said opening is in the topportion of said container, and further including fastener means forsecuring said cover means to said container.

3. The submersible urn of claim 2, wherein said air vent is located insaid cover means.

4. The submersible urn of claim 2, wherein said cover means includessaid air vent, the vent extending from the exterior of said container atleast part way through said cover, and at least one upper passagewayleading from said air vent to the interior of said container, and screenmeans located in said upper passageway.

5. The submersible urn of claim 4, wherein said water entry port islocated in and extends at least part way through said ballast means, theurn further including at least one lower passageway leading from saidport to the interior of said container, and screen means located in saidlower passageway.

6. The submersible urn of claim 5, wherein said lower passageway islocated in said ballast and includes a lower annular chamber surroundingsaid port, said lower annular chamber including a downwardly facingopening leading into the interior of said container.

'7. The submersible urn of claim 6, wherein said upper passagewayincludes an upper annular chamber surrounding said vent and openingdownwardly into the interior of said container.

8. The submersible urn of claim 7, wherein each of said removableclosure means comprises a manually removable cap.

9. The submersible urn of claim 8, wherein said container is of aluminumwhich is chemically degradable in the water in which said urn isimmersed.

10. The submersible urn of claim 8, wherein said container is of abio-degradable material.

11. The submersible urn of claim 4, wherein said upper passagewayincludes an upperannular chamber surrounding said air vent and openingdownwardly into the interior of said container.

12. The submersible urn of claim 11, wherein said cover includes aplurality of transverse upper passageways leading from said air vent tosaid upper annular chamber.

13. The submersible urn of claim 12, wherein said screen means coversthe opening of said upper annular chamber into the interior of saidcontainer.

14. The submersible urn of claim 13, wherein said water entry portextends from the exterior of said container at least part way throughsaid ballast means; lower chamber means in said ballast means openingdownwardly into the interior of said container; and at least onepassageway leading from said port to said lower chamber.

15. A submersible urn for underwater burial of cremated remains,comprising:

i a container adapted to receive and hold said remains, said containerbeing of degradable material and having a top portion and a bottomportion;

ballast means attached to the bottom portion of said container;

a water entry port extending from the exterior of said container atleast part way through said ballast means, said ballast means includingat least one lower passageway leading from said port to the interior ofsaid container;

removable closure means for said water entry port;

air vent means at the top of said container; and

removable closure means for said vent.

16. The submersible urn of claim 15, further including a screen coveringthe opening of said lower passageway into the interior of saidcontainer.

17. The submersible urn of claim 15, wherein said lower passagewayincludes a lower annular chamber formed in said ballast meanssurrounding said port, said lower chamber opening downwardly into theinterior of said container.

18. The submersible urn of claim 17, wherein said ballast means includesa plurality of transverse lower passageways leading from said waterentry port to said lower annular chamber.

19. The submersible urn of claim 18, further including a screen coveringthe opening of said lower annular chamber into the interior of saidcontainer.

20. The submersible urn of claim 19, further including an opening insaid container through which said remains may be placed in thecontainer; cover means for said opening, said cover means including saidair vent; screen means covering said air vent; and fastener means forsecuring said cover means to said container. l =|I

1. A submersible urn for underwater burial of cremated remains,comprising: a container adapted to receive and hold said remains, saidcontainer being of a degradable material and having a top portion and abottom portion; ballast means attached to the bottom portion of saidcontainer; a water entry port in the bottom portion of said container;removable closure means for said water entry port; an opening in saidcontainer through which said remains are placed in said container; covermeans for said opening; air vent means at the top of said container; andremovable closure means for said air vent.
 2. The submersible urn ofclaim 1, wherein said opening is in the top portion of said container,and further including fastener means for securing said cover means tosaid container.
 3. The submersible urn of claim 2, wherein said air ventis located in said cover means.
 4. The submersible urn of claim 2,wherein said cover means includes said air vent, the vent extending fromthe exterior of said container at least part way through said cover, andat least one upper passageway leading from said air vent to the interiorof said container, and screen means located in said upper passageway. 5.The submersible urn of claim 4, wherein said water entry port is locatedin and extends at least part way through said ballast means, the urnfurther including at least one lower passageway leading from said portto the interior of said container, and screen means located in saidlower passageway.
 6. The submersible urn of claim 5, wherein said lowerpassageway is located in said ballast and includes a lower annularchamber surrounding said port, said lower annular chamber including adownwardly facing opening leading into the interior of said container.7. The submersible urn of claim 6, wherein said upper passagewayincludes an upper annular chamber surrounding said vent and openingdownwardly into the interior of said container.
 8. The submersible urnof claim 7, wherein each of said removable closure means comprises amanually removable cap.
 9. The submersible urn of claim 8, wherein saidcontainer is of aluminum which is chemically degradable in the water inwhich said urn is immersed.
 10. The submersible urn of claim 8, whereinsaid container is of a bio-degradable material.
 11. The submersible urnof claim 4, wherein said upper passageway includes an upper annularchamber surrounding said air vent and opening downwardly into theinterior of said container.
 12. The submersible urn of claim 11, whereinsaid cover includes a plurality of transverse upper passageways leadingfrom said air vent to said upper annular chamber.
 13. The submersibleurn of claim 12, wherein said screen means covers the opening of saidupper annular chamber into the interior of said container.
 14. Thesubmersible urn of claim 13, wherein said water entry port extends fromthe exterior of said container at least part way through said ballastmeans; lower chamber means in said ballast means opening downwardly intothe interior of said container; and at least one passageway leading fromsaid port to said lower chamber.
 15. A submersible urn for underwaterburial of cremated remains, comprising: a container adapted to receiveand hold said remains, said container being of degradable material andhaving a top portion and a bottom portion; ballast means attached to thebottom portion of said container; a water entry port extending from theexterior of said container at leasT part way through said ballast means,said ballast means including at least one lower passageway leading fromsaid port to the interior of said container; removable closure means forsaid water entry port; air vent means at the top of said container; andremovable closure means for said vent.
 16. The submersible urn of claim15, further including a screen covering the opening of said lowerpassageway into the interior of said container.
 17. The submersible urnof claim 15, wherein said lower passageway includes a lower annularchamber formed in said ballast means surrounding said port, said lowerchamber opening downwardly into the interior of said container.
 18. Thesubmersible urn of claim 17, wherein said ballast means includes aplurality of transverse lower passageways leading from said water entryport to said lower annular chamber.
 19. The submersible urn of claim 18,further including a screen covering the opening of said lower annularchamber into the interior of said container.
 20. The submersible urn ofclaim 19, further including an opening in said container through whichsaid remains may be placed in the container; cover means for saidopening, said cover means including said air vent; screen means coveringsaid air vent; and fastener means for securing said cover means to saidcontainer.